


The Promise

by doctorxdonna (badxwolfxrising)



Series: Earth Girls Are So Not Easy [18]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Smut, Whump, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-19
Updated: 2015-10-19
Packaged: 2018-04-27 01:29:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5028439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badxwolfxrising/pseuds/doctorxdonna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On an alien planet the unthinkable happens, and Donna is infected with a fatal virus for which there is no cure.  Hurt/comfort, smut, and..zombies?  Yes, zombies.  (No Donna Nobles were harmed in the making of this kinda tropey fanfic).</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Promise

**Author's Note:**

> A stand alone story in the Earth Girls Are So Not Easy series.

Donna tried to open her eyes, but they were stuck firmly shut. She reached up and rubbed away the crust of sleep gumming her eyelids together with one finger. Finally, she opened her eyes to see a white, nondescript ceiling above her. She could hear the whir and hiss of machinery, and underneath that, the familiar hum of the TARDIS. The astringent quality of the air suggested she was in the infirmary. She actually did feel kind of peaky, and her shoulder was throbbing. Why was her shoulder throbbing? She just remembered running, everything else was hazy. She pushed herself up onto her elbows and took a good look around.

The room she was in didn’t look all that different from every other hospital room she’d ever been in on Earth. The equipment was more advanced, but she still was able to recognize the machine measuring her heart rate and other vitals, as well as the IV, which was being fed through a needle inserted in the back of her hand. Next to her bedside, the Doctor sat in a chair, his elbows resting on his knees, his face in his hands. It was only the shaking of his shoulders that tipped her off to the fact that he was silently sobbing.

“Doctor, what is it? What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice lodging in her throat and coming out as a whisper.

The Doctor looked up at her, his eyes rimmed red from crying Tears had cut tracks down his abnormally pale, freckled cheeks, and his nose was running. From the looks of him, he’d apparently been doing what some of her mates referred to as ‘ugly crying’.

“Doctor?” she pressed, feeling her stomach flip flop. She had never seen him this upset, not even after Messaline, the Library, or Midnight. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

The Doctor covered his mouth, but not before she saw his lips tremble. He looked off to the side of the room, either refusing to meet her gaze or just unable to. Finally, he looked back at her and sighed, his whole body shaking.

“I...I screwed up,” he said, his voice coming out as a pained gasp.

“What happened?” she asked. “What did you do?”

The Doctor bit his lip, and inhaled shakily. He wiped roughly at his eyes with the sleeves of his suit jacket, and blew his nose noisily into a paisley handkerchief he produced from one of his many pockets. He inhaled again, and finally spoke in a quiet and measured tone. “You’ve been exposed to a rare strain of the fury virus.”

“And what’s the fury virus?” she asked, trying to mask her frustration with him being his typical, vague self.

“It’s fatal,” the Doctor said, his voice cracking.

Donna’s heart sank. “But there’s a cure, right?”

He broke out into a fresh slew of tears, the force of which wracked his entire body.

“Doctor, please tell me that there’s a cure!” she said urgently.

Miserably, the Doctor shook his head. “It’s a mutation, a supervirus. There is no known cure. Donna, you’re dying. And there is nothing I can do about it.”

* * * * *

_16 hours earlier…_

“Do you think maybe one day you might take me somewhere that isn’t a frozen wasteland?” Donna asked petulantly from underneath the hood of her anorak.

“Oh come on, it’s gorgeous here. Just look at that sunset!” the Doctor said enthusiastically, taking her gloved hand in his and leading the way across the snow. “Anyway, Lestara has some of the most beautiful luminescent crystal caverns in the galaxy. Trust me, it’s well worth the cold. You’re gonna love it.”

“How are you not freezing?” she quizzed as she looked him up and down. He was dressed the same as always-too tight brown suit, collared shirt, battered plimsolls (that couldn’t possibly have any tread left), and the sweeping brown coat he claimed had been a gift from Janis Joplin. Appropriate perhaps for autumn on Earth, but surely not for what felt like the middle of winter in Siberia. Not that she had ever been to Russia before-she hadn’t. Not yet, anyway. She was just guessing.

“Time Lord, Donna. My body is much more efficient at temperature regulation than the average human,” he replied cheerfully.

“Of course it is,” she said, not bothering to mask the sarcasm.

“Jealous?” he shot back, waggling his eyebrows at her.

“You wish, you skinny little git,” she laughed.

They tromped through the snow together, cutting across the hills and leaving behind two sets of footprints on the otherwise unblemished blanket of white. On the distant horizon, she could just barely make out a small cluster of buildings. A village, or town of some sort.

“Where are all the people?” she questioned as they made their way up a particularly steep hill.

“Well it’s almost dark. They’re probably eating dinner,” he called back over his shoulder.

“You mind slowing it down a bit, Spaceman? Not all of us have mile long legs,” she panted, bringing up the rear.

“Right, sorry,” he said, dropping back to walk along next to her. “You know, if I did have mile long legs, it would be impossible for me to walk because-”

“Oh for Pete’s sake, it’s a figure of speech, Time Boy!”

“Right...sorry.”

“It’s so quiet,” she commented as they finally approached the edge of the village, which was eerily silent.

“Too quiet,” the Doctor frowned, pulling the sonic screwdriver from his pocket. “Even if it is dinner time...people should be walking home. There should be tourists. Where is everyone?”

Donna watched as the Doctor swept the sonic in a wide arc around them, his frown becoming more pronounced. “This village is abandoned. The sonic isn’t picking up any bio signatures besides our own.”

“So where have they all gone?” she asked.

“I haven’t the foggiest,” he answered, shoving his hands into his pockets. “But I have a bad feeling about this. It’s 4438, a golden age of prosperity and technology. Lestara should be thriving right now. They wouldn’t have just abandoned this place without good reason. Maybe we ought to go.”

She looked at him like he’d sprouted a second head. “Without bothering to investigate what happened to all the people? That doesn’t sound like you.”

“Maybe not, but all the same...I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” he said, reaching out for her hand.

“Yeah, but we can’t just leave without at least taking a look around. What if something happened and we’re the only ones who can help?” she said, tugging him in the direction of a small, squat house.

“Donna, you’re not listening. There are no bio signatures besides yours and mine. Not here, not anywhere. This village isn’t just abandoned, the whole planet is empty. And that can’t mean anything good,” he said, attempting to pull her back the direction they had came.

“So you’re not even remotely curious as to what could’ve happened?” she asked, digging her heels in.

He turned around, and shot her an irritated look. “No,” he said in a clipped tone.

She laughed. “Bollocks. You’re like the proverbial curious cat.”

“Yes, well, as you’ll remember, the cat dies,” he said dryly. “And I’m not trying to do that today. I’ve gotten kind of used to this body, not looking to trade it in any time soon.”

“Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back,” Donna quoted. 

“Listen, I should’ve scanned before we even came out here. I got overexcited. Let’s just go back to the TARDIS, I can take some readings and try to figure out what happened,” he said in an attempt to placate her.

“Don’t be daft, the TARDIS is almost a mile away. We’re right here, we might as well take a look around before we go,” she insisted, starting back for the house.

The Doctor gave a beleagured sigh. “Fine. But the first hint that something’s really not right…”

‘We head back to the TARDIS,” she finished.

“Okay, so long as we’re on the same page,” he said, reaching out and taking her hand. They walked together up to the door, where he briskly knocked three times. After a moment’s silence he tried the knob, and the door swung open easily. The house beyond the threshold was dark and silent, and the rush of cold air that greeted them smelled sour and rotten.

“Do you think it could be Vashta Nerada?” she questioned nervously, peering into the darkness.

“No. Vashta Nerada eat meat, they don’t leave it to rot. Either someone left out a package of hamburger, or something in here is dead. Are you still sure you want to investigate?”

“No. But we came this far,” she answered.

“Right, that bad feeling? Not exactly letting up,” the Doctor said grimly, holding the sonic out in front of him like a torch. “Stay close to me, just in case.”

“You’ll think I’m a barnacle,” she whispered, grabbing the back of his coat and following him into the house. Slowly, they crept down the hallway, the only sound the whirring of the sonic and their own shuffling footsteps. It was almost unnaturally silent, and Donna found that she was just waiting for something to happen. An inexplicable sense of unease settled over the two of them, and when she reached out for his hand in the dark it was there and waiting. From deep within the house, they heard a loud thump. 

“What the hell was that?” she hissed.

“I don’t know. Just stay behind me,” he warned her. They walked through the kitchen and down another hallway, at the end of which were two doors.

“Left or right?” he murmured.

“Right,” she whispered back to him.

The Doctor opened the door, still holding the sonic out ahead of him for illumination. Over his shoulder she caught sight of a frayed rope, dangling from a crossbeam above them. He lowered the sonic, shining the light onto the body lying in a crumpled heap on the floor. The corpse’s face was swollen to the point that it wasn’t recognizable as either man or a woman. It was only the vague shape of breasts under the torn and dirty tunic dressing the body that suggested it was female.

“Hung herself. Rope must’ve frayed and broken from the strain. That was probably the thump we heard a minute ago; her body falling and hitting the floor,” the Doctor said somberly.

Donna gagged. “Oh God, it stinks in here!”

“She’s been dead awhile, from the looks of it. Hard telling, though. It’s so chilly in here, that could’ve slowed down the rate of decay,” he assessed.

“Why’d she hang herself, though?” she asked.

“The question of the hour,” he replied, shining the sonic around the room, looking for any hints or clues as to why the poor woman had taken her own life. The blue light bounced over and off of a large mirror hung on the opposite wall. Donna squinted into the darkness until she was able to make out the shapes of the letters lipsticked onto the mirror’s surface.

“ _I had to shoot the children. To save them. May the Goddess forgive me_ ,” she read out loud. “Well, I guess that explains why she hung herself. But why’d she have to shoot the children? What could a child possibly due that would warrant shooting them?”

“Good question. And another-where are the children’s bodies?” the Doctor muttered.

“Behind door number two?” Donna suggested, tilting her head towards the closed door across the hall.

“Seems likely. Let’s find out if you’re right,” he said, leading the way across the hall. As soon as he opened the door, the smell of death became even more pervasive.

“That’ll be a yes then,” she said, pulling her jumper up over her nose and mouth.

Warily, the Doctor shined the sonic into the inky blackness of the room. The blue beam picked over piles of dirty clothes and forgotten toys, finally landing on the bed in the middle of the room. Two small bodies were curled on top of the sheets, dressed in gore splattered pyjamas. The wall behind the bed and the pillows was a ghastly mural of blood, bones, and brain matter, a clear picture of exactly what had happened to the children.

“She must’ve shot them when they were sleeping,” the Doctor said, a notable edge in his voice. “That way they couldn’t fight.”

“The poor things,” Donna said softly. “At least they didn’t see it coming. But we still don’t know why she shot them in the first place. And why in the head?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t know. But it must’ve have been something really bad. Mothers don’t just shoot their children for no reason, assuming the mother in question is of sound mind and body. She said she had to do it to save them. But save them from what?”

It was at that moment that Donna felt icy cold fingers wrap around her ankle. She screamed and looked down-the corpse of the mother was leering up at her, gripping her leg like an iron vise. “Doctor, help me!”

“I told you I had a bad feeling about this!” he grunted, hauling her back by the shoulder as he aimed the sonic at the putrescent visage of the revenant that was now writhing on the floor. The thing let out a banshee-like shriek and finally released Donna. “Come on, let’s get out of here!”

The two of them stumbled inelegantly down the hall, back through the kitchen and towards the entrance of the house. Once they had skidded outside, the Doctor slammed the door behind them and locked it with his screwdriver.

“What the bleeding hell was that thing?” Donna gasped. “I thought you said there were no bio signatures!”

“There wasn’t. That thing, whatever it is, isn’t properly alive. It’s like a cockroach with its head cut off,” the Doctor answered breathlessly. “It might still be moving, but the brain is dead.”

“Are you telling me that thing in there was a bloody _zombie_?” she demanded.

“It doesn’t matter. Back to the TARDIS. Now!” he exclaimed, tugging her back the way they had came. They pelted through the snow, moving with a speed and urgency they hadn’t had on their trek to the village. The moonlight reflected off the snow, creating shadows amongst the hills and bathing the landscape in ghostly, ethereal light. They stopped at the top of the last hill between them and the TARDIS and looked down with dismay.

“Right. Many things about this are not good,” the Doctor said, surveying the scene below. It wouldn’t be quite accurate to say the valley between them and the TARDIS was teeming with life, because the dozens of people wandering aimlessly there were quite clearly dead. Charnel pit might be a more accurate description.

“Where did they all come from?” Donna asked, gripping his hand tightly.

“From another village, maybe. The sound of the TARDIS landing must’ve drawn them out,” he answered, his voice grim.

“So what do we do? Because I’m guessing they don’t just want to invite us round for tea and biscuits,” she said sardonically.

“No, I think we probably are the tea and biscuits in this scenario. Cover your ears, and when I grab you, run,” he said, adjusting the frequency of the sonic.

Even with her hands over her ears, she could still hear the shrill and piercing screams of the revenants when the Doctor hit them with the sonic.

“I’ve only temporarily stunned them. Come on!” he shouted, grabbing her hand. They stumbled down the hill together, weaving their way through and around the mindlessly shambling corpses. They booked their way through the valley and to the TARDIS, where the Doctor fumbled through his pockets for the key.

“Doctor, they’re coming. Open the door!” she shouted.

“I’m trying!” he yelled back, stabbing the key into the lock. At first, it wouldn’t turn in either direction. With a frustrated grunt, he tried jiggling the key back and forth. Finally, he heard the tell-tale click of the lock turning over, and the door popped open. He turned around to usher Donna inside, right as a revenant emerged from the shadows. All he could do was look on in frozen horror as the thing sank its teeth into her shoulder, ripping through the fabric of her anorak like it was nothing before he even had a chance to react.

* * * * *

“It’s a mutation, a supervirus. There is no known cure. Donna, you’re dying. And there is nothing I can do about it.”

“Nothing?”

“All I can do is delay the onset of symptoms. But it’s a degenerative illness. Eventually, your organs will begin to fail, and then your brain will follow. And after that…” he said, his voice trailing off.

“I become like one of those things,” she completed numbly, the events of the previous hours flooding her memory.

He nodded at her tearfully. “This is all my fault. I should’ve read more into the history before I brought you here. I just got so caught up on the crystal caverns. I only wanted to take you somewhere that was beautiful as you are. I didn’t read as far as the plague that wiped out the entire colony. If I had known, we never would’ve come here in the first place. I’m so, so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. You told me you had a bad feeling, and that you wanted to go back to the TARDIS. I’m the one who forced you to go into that house. So it’s my fault, really. Serves me right for thinking I know better, I suppose,” she said, staring down at her hands.

“Don’t talk like that!” he replied fiercely.

“How long have I got?” she croaked.

“Three days? Maybe four or five, tops. It’s a vicious virus, and it works quickly,” he stammered. “And I’m sorry, but you have to stay here on the TARDIS. You can’t go home. The pathogens could become airborne and infect other people.”

“What about you? Aren’t you at risk?” she fretted.

“Only humans are susceptible to the virus. I’m safe,” he replied. “And anyway, it wouldn’t matter. I’m not going to leave you.”

“Doctor, I don’t want to become like one of those things. When the time comes, you do what you have to do,” she said firmly, and with more conviction than she felt.

“I told you not to talk like that!” he said furiously.

“No, but I mean it. And if I’m dying, you’re going to shut up and listen to me, because these are my last wishes. You can’t let me become one of those abominations. Please, when it gets bad, you put me down. I don’t care how, but you do it,” she insisted. “Promise me.”

“You’re asking me to promise that I’ll murder my best friend!” he objected.

“It wouldn’t be murder. It would be saving me from a worse fate. Now if you care about me even one iota, Spaceman, you’ll promise me,” she implored.

“Fine. I...I promise,” he finally whispered shakily.

“Alright, good,” she said, relaxing back against the bed. “I’m glad we’re on the same page. Now, do I have to stay in the infirmary the whole time?”

“No, that won’t be necessary,” he said, straightening up in his chair. “You can go wherever you like on the TARDIS, so long as you feel up to it. You’re not exhibiting too many symptoms yet, but eventually the meds I’ve given you will wear off, and then you’re going to start to feel sick. Like the worst flu you’ve ever had, times ten. When it gets to that point...I can give you a couple of things. Something for pain, if you want it. Or...something so you’ll go to sleep...and you won’t wake up.”

“If that’s what we have to do, that’s what we have to do. I want to die with my dignity. I trust you can understand that,” she said earnestly.

“Yeah,” he said softly, staring at his shoes.

“Well, I ain’t dead yet, so let’s eat gratuitous amounts of ice cream and watch the Golden Girls,” she said, hoping to make him smile just a little bit.

“Whatever you like,” he answered, stroking his thumb along the inside of her wrist. “Your wish is my command.”

Somehow, she managed a laugh. “Okay, Space Genie. Think I can get that in writing?”

* * * * *

She found him the next morning in the library, curled up on the settee in front of a roaring fire and crying like a lost child into his balled up suit jacket. The sound was so hollow and desolate, it tore at her heart. She sat down on the floor next to him and tenderly brushed his fringe out of his eyes. “There now, what are you crying for? I’m the one who’s never going to know how Game of Thrones ends,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.

He sniffled. “Everybody dies. That’s how it ends.”

“Spoiler alert,” she said dryly.

“I’m not talking about Game of Thrones. I’m talking about life. That’s how it ends. Everybody dies. Except for me. I just keep living, while everyone I lo-care for turns to dust,” he hiccupped.

“I’m sorry,” she said, at a loss for anything else to say.

“No, I’m sorry,” he said, sitting up. “I shouldn’t be unloading on you. It’s not fair. I’m just...I’m not ready for you to go.”

Donna felt tears pricking the corners of her eyes. She crawled onto the settee next to him, and let him drape his arm around her shoulders. “If it’s any consolation, I’m not ready to go, either. I was gonna stay with you forever.”

“I know,” he replied, reaching out to swipe the tears from her cheeks with his thumb. He spread his palm out to briefly cup her cheek before letting it fall back to rest in his lap. “But the truth is, Donna Noble, forever with you still wouldn’t have been long enough.”

Before she could properly over think about what she was doing, she leaned forward and pressed her lips tentatively against his. The Doctor reacted immediately, bringing his arms up to wrap around her and pull her closer to him, effectively deepening the kiss. She buried her hands in his hair and tugged, causing him to elicit a positively scandalous moan, the likes of which she had never heard from him before. None the less, the sound set something inside her on fire and she crawled onto his lap and straddled him, her knees on either side of his hips, her bum resting on his thighs. He was staring down at her now, his eyes impossibly bright in the glow cast by the fire, an indescribable look on his face. He tilted her chin up with two fingers and brought his mouth to hers.

“I love you,” he confessed softly against her lips.

“I know,” she replied.

The Doctor actually chuckled. “Alright then, Han Solo.”

She smiled. “Made you laugh, though, didn’t I? And you thought I wasn’t paying attention when we watched Star Wars.”

“Seriously though, Donna...I love you,” he said again, sotto voce. “I just want to say that...while I still have the chance. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. But I love you...and I have for a long time.”

“Oh Spaceman, I love you too,” she replied tearfully, tightening her grip on him. “And it’s not too late, not yet.”

“Isn’t it though?” he whispered sadly.

“We may not have forever, but at least we have today,” she said, stroking her fingers through the wiry hair of his sideburns. “So let’s make the best of it, yeah? No time for regrets.”

“Are you sure this is what you want?” he asked, leaning his forehead against hers.

“I’m sure _you_ are what I want,” she answered emphatically, pushing him back against the settee. His hands fluttered around her sides like nervous birds before they finally settled on her hips, pushing her down against him. She grabbed his tie and ran her hand up its silken length, grabbing the knot and pulling it loose to let the garment whisper over his shoulders and slide down onto the floor. Wasting no time, she began unbuttoning his shirt, spreading it open to reveal the tshirt he was wearing underneath.

“The Proclaimers?” she said, raising her eyebrows.

“What’s wrong with the Proclaimers?” he protested.

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” she said, grabbing the bottom of the tshirt and lifting it up. He raised his arms over his head and helped her tug the garment off and out of the way. She spread her palms against his naked chest and she could swear she felt his heartbeat increase. “Two hearts.”

“Well yeah, but you knew that,” the Doctor said.

“Anything else you’ve got two of?” she teased.

“Well sure. Eyes, lungs, kidneys-”

“You know what I meant, you git.”

This time he raised his eyebrows, more in amusement than surprise. “I’m just like a human male. For the most part.”

“For the most part?”

“Well I’m vastly superior in every respect, for starters.”

“And modest, too.”

“What? It’s the truth. But you’ll see for yourself soon enough,” he smirked.

“You’re awfully confident, for an old man,” she said, reaching between them to unzip his trousers. “No pants? You wear three layers of shirts, but no pants?”

“The washing machine is broken.”

“Mmmhmm. A likely excuse.”

She lifted her body up and away from him so he could shimmy out of his trousers and settle back down against the settee. Beneath her, he was hot and throbbing.

“Now this hardly seems fair. I’ve got no clothes on, and you’re still completely dressed,” the Doctor observed.

“So then do something about it, Time Boy,” she said coyly. 

He grinned at her rakishly and let his hands slide down to caress her bottom before grabbing the hem of her nightgown and tugging it up and over her torso. Underneath, she was wearing only a plain white cotton bra and a matching pair of knickers. “Oh Donna, you’re beautiful.”

“Stop it.”

“No, but you are. You’re gorgeous.”

She flushed crimson. “You’re embarrassing me.”

“Trust me, Donna, you have nothing to be embarrassed about,” he said, reaching behind her to unhook her bra. She shrugged the straps off her shoulders and let the garment fall away from her body. The Doctor picked it up and discarded it on the floor behind him. “By Rassilon I swear, I have never seen a more perfect pair of breasts.”

“Now I know you’re lying.”

“I’m really not, you know,” he whispered into the valley between her breasts. “900 years, I’ve seen a lot of chests. Joan of Arc, Cleopatra, Marilyn Monroe. But yours? Yours is definitely the nicest.”

She quieted him by pressing her lips firmly against his mouth. He kissed her back greedily, his tongue swiping along her lower lip and questing for access. She opened her mouth to him, and their tongues tangled together urgently, eager to taste and explore. His hands skimmed up her body until he found her breasts, where he traced rough circles around her nipples with his thumbs until the delicate skin pulled into taut, aching peaks. He dropped his head to her chest and began laving her nipples, first the left, and then the right. She moaned appreciatively and bucked her hips, seeking relief for the maddening ache developing between her legs.

The Doctor hooked his thumbs under the waistband of her knickers and began pulling them down, which was an awkward endeavour given she was still straddling him. After some mild circus acrobatics on both of their parts, her knickers came off and joined the rest of their clothes on the floor. Now that both of them were completely naked, she felt a sudden wave of shyness creep over her. He must have sensed her nervousness because he chose that moment to lean forward and kiss her again, soft and languorous, the perfect distraction. Slowly, they sank down onto the settee, which was just barely big enough for them to lie down side by side and facing each other. Their bodies pressed intimately together as they continued kissing, allowing just enough space between them for their groping hands to wander.

“Doctor, please,” she moaned as he nipped and suckled at the soft skin between her jaw and shoulder.

He didn’t require elaboration or a second invitation, just rolled over and on top so that he was straddling her. Holding himself up with one hand on the back of the settee, he used the other to align himself with her entrance. Finally he sank himself deep into her velvet heat, and both of them sighed with the relief of two people coming home. Once he had settled into an even rhythm, he dropped back down so that their chests were pressed together and their faces were just barely touching. They nuzzled noses affectionately before resuming their urgent, fervored snogging. Eventually, when his thrusts became more erratic and her breathing became more labored, he reached between them to the place where they were joined and began to stroke her clit. The fire burning deep inside her belly flared and spread out, completely engulfing her. Beneath him she began to shudder and sigh as the waves of pleasure washed over her body like a warm summer rain. The Doctor buried his face in the side of her neck and shouted his release against her skin, clutching tightly at her as he did. Finally spent, he collapsed bonelessly against her and let his head fall into the space between her ear and shoulder. He rolled and shifted his weight back onto the settee and turned over so that he could spoon himself against her. The sound of the fire burning and each other’s breathing was enough to lull them both to sleep.

* * * * *

Donna woke up on the settee, her favorite fuzzy blanket draped over her naked body. The Doctor was perched on the armchair across the way, watching her with a rapt expression on his face.

“What you looking at, Spaceman?” she yawned, sitting up and letting the blanket pool around her waist.

“How do you feel?” he asked, ignoring the question.

She paused, and stretched. “I feel brilliant, actually. Best I’ve felt in weeks. Why?”

“Well you should,” he said, grinning. “Know why?”

“Why?” she asked, humoring him.

“You’re cured. I ran a few tests on the sonic while you were sleeping. The levels of the virus in your body have dropped dramatically. You might be a bit sore for a few days, but you’re going to be just fine.”

“Wait, what?” she said, confused. “But I thought you said there was no cure?”

“I thought there wasn’t. Turns out I was wrong. Apparently, there is something that can cure the fury virus,” he said, practically giddy.

“And what’s that?” she questioned, unable to help herself from smiling at him.

“Hypase. It’s a protein with regenerative properties found in Time Lord genetic material. Basically, it repaired the cells in your body and reversed the damage done by the virus. A few more doses, and you’ll be up and at ‘em in no time,” he said cheerfully.

“Wait a minute. Time Lord genetic material? Are you seriously telling me that you literally just _shagged_ the virus out of me?” she said, raising her eyebrows.

“Pretty much, yeah,” he replied with a smug grin. “Like I said...a few more ‘treatments’, and you should be fine.”

“Well isn’t that wizard?” she laughed in disbelief.

“Yeah, I thought so too,” he said, nodding sagely.

She smiled back at him broadly. “Well in that case Spaceman, get your skinny little arse over here. I’ve got a fever and I think I need a Doctor.”


End file.
